History Main / CrackIsCheaper

* Averted by [[TeamFortress2 TF2]] on the PC, where the core game is $20 on average, and occasionally is discounted by half...with both online access and numerous content updates provided for nearly three years, free of charge. No wonder it's a favorite game of the cheap or chronically broke, [[PerpetualPoverty like college students.]]

** But the look on your fellow geek's faces when you offer them a magnifying glass to see the detials? Priceless.
** Also, the look you give to your dad that means "I loathe you for being awesome"? Also priceless. Yeah my dad is badass.

*** If you're using the keyboard at home or in the studio (as opposed to on stage) you can get a reasonably priced MIDI controller and synthesis software for your computer. But the hours you'll spend? Double 'em. And don't get musicans started on "vintage" synthesizers from the 1960's-70's. There is absolutely no "cheap route" in the art of MIDI music. What's your soundcard? A Realtek Audio '97 with a [[{{Synthesizeritis}} Roland GS 93 Sound Canvas]]? Want to go better and go for a Sound Blaster LIVE! or something along those lines? Easy $500 there. Or you could buy a cheap Yamaha PSR-E403 for around $300 at a music store (and if you're like me and don't live near one, that just cost some $10 in gas) and then work with that. But what about your Sequencing program? Anvil Studio or JazzWare? They're free, but they're cumbersome and crappy, and they don't work fully with the keyboards. MIDI Maestro? $100. And that's just an average one. Cakewalk Pro? $250 upwards. Hey, at least the Yamahas come with USB MIDI cable connections... [[hottip:* :(Well, there's the LMMS, much like an open-source copy of FL Studio. Whether it's any good know if it is any good is unknown to this page; and since it's Linux-based, chances are that it will run a bit clunky on Windows.)]]

*** Cellos are even worse. Oh yes. The price range for cellos starts at $2000 for used quarter-sized cellos. This troper bought a high quality, three-quarter cello from a used instrument dealer, and she still ended up dropping over $3000.

**** As someone who plays both cello and bass, I just wanted to second this troper's tale. Basses are much worse than cellos in price.
**** This troper takes your double bass and raises with her sister's harp. The images of the tiny harps that angels play are wrong. Our family got a van primarily for harp transportation. The only way to get parts for the harp is to order online and pay for shipping or to go to a specialized store that only sells in large cities like Chicago. If my sister wants to continue progressing with the harp she will have to upgrade to a lever harp which are $10,000 at a minimum. This is just for the high school instrument. God forbid she chooses to become a professional harpist...
**** This troper's harp cost 4,000 USED. My parents had to buy a new car just to transport it, and it's only a lever harp at 32 strings. I had to buy my own car thinking about transporting it. Steel strings can cost (at minimum) $32 each. Of course, there are also different types of strings just for one harp. There is nylon, gut, and steel strings, just for the different octaves. Forget buying strings in stores. You have to order online.

*** This troper was very adamant about buying CDs rather than listening to stuff online or using burned CDs - until she got to college and had to support her classical CD collection on a student budget. Let's just say the school's music library and YouTube are my two new best friends.
*** This troper, having been to one operatic performance wanted to expand his cultural horizons and pick up an opera score, Carmen or Barber of Seville, maybe Wagner. $60, are you kidding me? Keep the form snooty by pricing it well beyond the reach of mundanes.

** Accordions. Oh god, accordions. While (some of) the components can be factory-made, they have to be assembled by hand still, which means you're paying labour costs too. To top it off, with all the delicate parts, they aren't great touring instruments(how the Gypsies and Klezmorim of old ever did it is beyond this troper's comprehension) And Gods help you if you try to do home repairs instead of paying ridiculous amounts to the rare people who actually know how to properly tune and fix them!

*** This troper has NEVER seen a French horn cost less than two grand, actually.

** How's about just going for blanket coverage and saying that '''any''' semi-serious musician has to shell out enough to choke a small family in any currency to have a chance? [[@/KnaveofSpades This Troper]]'s brother works in a well-renowned (well, in Texas, at least) instrument repair shop, and the repairs alone for orchestral instruments alone can easily run for a limb equivalent if it's been abused hard enough.
*** This trombone-playing troper is happy to be playing an aversion. A trombone is much easier to build than most other instruments and can go for years without wearing out anything more significant than a spot of cork on its spit valve. Students can start playing for $100-$200, semi-professionals can pick up a horn for under $1,000, and the fanciest symphony-caliber doubled-keyed bass trombones top out at 5 or 6 grand. Professionals might - MIGHT - need two of them, but students and amateur/community performers can get by just fine with only one. I use a $500 hand-me-down from the 1940s, and other musicians are actually impressed by it. This frees up more of our money for beer, which any trombonist will tell you is the real key to getting a perfect trombone sound.

** This tuba playing troper is thankful for his high school music program providing the more expensive instruments. The tuba I play on runs about 9,000 dollars. Mouthpieces are a total money black hole as well. Start on a $50 Bach, get a $50 dollar Helleburg to vary your sound, pony up $100 for a Mega Tone to try and ring out some more darkness, discover stainless steel mouthpieces ($125-$150), and then finally make the ultimate leap to titanium ($400 for a G&W). And if you buy gold plated, be prepared to get those replated every few years. Mouthpiece collection is usually a trumpet player's kryptonite, but when a tuba player gets into it it's pretty unhealthy for the wallet.

*** SABLE is why the second bedroom of this troper's apartment is stuffed full of yarn. Honestly, I don't remember buying half of that stuff. I think it breeds when I'm not looking.

* Art in general. Quality art supplies can get pricey. This troper paid $30 for store brand Alizarin Crimson oil paint and it only goes up from there, then there's the other paint colors, linseed oil, turpentine, and damar varnish (if you mix your medium the traditional way). Being a printmaker requires a huge apparatus that resembles a torture machine, gallons of etching acid, various types of ground, zinc or copper plates, inks, rollers, scrapes, it goes on. Not to mention paint tubes eventually empty, brushes crack and fray, etc. Digital Artist? While digital artists have the advantage of not having their supplies run out, be prepared to drop a couple hundred on Corel Painter, Adobe Creative Suite, or other programs, and a tablet. A good tablet can cost in the hundreds, though there are cheaper models for beginners. Then, if you go to art school, you have four years of tuition to pay, plus room and board if you dorm, among the other associated expenses of campus life. Then your class has delightful things called supply lists. This troper was told by a teacher to expect to pay about $300 for her supplies. And that was just for ONE CLASS.
** I sometimes feel sorry for my mum who is usually the one who pays for my art supplies. Last trip was $125 AUS for a set of decent pencils, $25 for a set of 10 watercolour pencils, a new tube of burnt sienna watercolour at $5 for a 25ml tube... And a new hardcover sketch book and a $30 art drawing book for my little sister. I think that's why we don't go art shopping that often...

** Totally seconding the oil painting = expensive remark! This troper took oil painting lessons for ten years and knows which oil paints are good to get by their smell, and even at a regular chain such as Michaels, a halfway decent oil paint can run you about $10 a color. And even if you've been thoroughly taught how to mix colors, you still have to get about ten different colored oil paints in order to get every single color nuance available. Then you have to get a good paint palette, one you can reuse (when I was a student I used one with disposable, slick pages so every time I started a new painting or just ran out of space I could just tear the page out and start a new page), a good palette knife (so you can actually mix the paints thoroughly and not get too much or too little of a color), turpentine, AND THE BRUSHES. You better think twice about getting a brush with artificial hairs -- any decent brush has REAL hairs, and can be just about as costly as the oil paints themselves, if not moreso, and you have to get them in varying thicknesses and shapes if you want to paint anything in more detail than the cheap, knockoff dreck being hocked at those "airport hotel art expos", and of course you have to get good canvases and a sturdy painter's easel, old rags to wipe off the brushes, a little basin to empty turpentine into, and FINALLY a selection of old, worn-out clothing so you don't have to worry about dirtying yourself while painting. Oh, and you have to replace all those paints, the turpentine, get a new canvas per painting (obviously).... The expense is the one reason why I haven't picked up oil painting again in awhile, even though it does wonders for reducing stress levels.

* Don't forget photography classes. '''Good lord.''' This troper was required to take one as part of her design major, and the absolute minimum camera that had to be purchased for the class? A Nikon D40. Which costs about ''$450 and upwards for just the starter kit.'' Thankfully, her professor told her that the class wasn't required to have to purchase extra lenses and other accessories, which is probably just as well considering just ''how'' expensive certain lenses can get.

** Not to mention if you have the nickel allergy mentioned above -- good luck finding a thimble. This troper's mother went through about twelve different kinds before settling on one ''made of gold''.

** This troper is still at the stage of plotting and seeing what works - but dear god, the SABLE from notebook collection. Not necessarily broke, but running out of space.

** But that's just school and the foundation year/regular art school supplies. See, drawing comics should be cheap, right? Paper, ink, pencil, rule, done. No, not that simple. Those pre-ruled comic boards? Not cheap. So you buy bristol and draw your own lines! Well, bristol's not cheap either, especially if you prefer to work 14 x 17, and especially if you get picky and want ''really'' good bristol. And pencils? Sure, it's cheap if you use regular pencils. But if you're like This Troper and have an affinity for non-photo blue... you can get around this a little bit if you use mechanical pencils, but it's still $3 for a pack of ten little leads. Ink! That should be cheap! Well, it depends. Nibs? Cheap, sure, unless you use the G-Pen nibs from Japan. Then factor in you go through nibs like water. Brushes? A Windsor & Newton Series 7 brush can set you back $20. For one brush. Rapidographs? A set can be $80-$100. Microns are cheaper, but last about 5 uses before they're all busted up. Want to color your comic? Forget it. If you use markers like Prismacolors or Copics... those motherfuckers are never under $3 each, even on sale. Or you could color it on the computer, if you can afford a scanner and photoshop. And if you want to get some precise rendering, you'll need a tablet or a cintiq, which will set you back. Now add Shipping and Handling to all of that if you don't live in somewhere like New York City.

* Subversion, double subversion, and partial triple subversion: origami. A starter pack of paper costs about US$3-$5, and with dedicated use will probably last at least a month or two. Even beautifully patterned paper with embossing or metallic accents rarely gets above $15 at a Japanese market, and that's for quite a large packet. Origami books usually run in the $10-$20 range, with only the highly advanced or theoretical ones reaching $50. The difficulty comes in finding them--the vast majority of origami books you're likely to see are along the lines of Fundamental Origami for Beginners, which you'll outgrow in about two weeks of practice. Still, after a bit of searching in bookstores and online (and many diagrams are available for free on the web), you can build up a sizable origami library for well under $200. Until that fateful day when you find an utterly entrancing model of the Australian Blue Crested Turnip, and you just HAVE to fold it. The diagrams aren't to be found anywhere online, and a bit of searching reveals they were only published in a compendium released in Japan that's been out of print for fifteen years and isn't on Amazon. You'd better hope you have an obliging contact in the country willing to search around for the book and send it to you, or else you're out of luck. Unless, of course, fate is smiling on you and you manage to find the book itself online, which is a slim chance but not outside the realm of possibility. If for some unfathomable reason you decide to make your own paper (some origamists far more dedicated and advanced than this troper mostly or entirely use homemade paper), that's a whole new can of worms...

* Completed PVC anime figures, resin kits and pretty much any kind of model kit adds up like hell. A standard completed PVC figure runs about 60 USD without shipping (which is between 8-25 USD), resin kits run less at around 35 USD, but once you add in all the materials you need to add about 100 USD more to that total. Punch-out PVC gundam models are hard to find in stores, and run around 60 USD. If you buy them online they're less, but then there's shipping again. {{This Troper}} has easily spent over 1000 USD on his collection.

*** I wish this were true of my group. This troper can attest that he just ''has'' to pay for those books. If your friends know you will eventually buckle and get that new supplement if nobody else does, you will wind up paying. I owned almost every official DnD 3.5 supplement in existence. They're usually about $30 a pop, and there are dozens of them.
*** This troper finds that there is always someone else willing to buy and run something if he doesn't. But he still buys a bucket-load of rule books that no one else has. And then downloads them to put on a laptop as well, just so that he has a copy of his own book to use when he doesn't want to lug around seven different books just in case.

*** This is due to fuel sold at marinas is considerably more expensive than what you pay at the local gas station. This troper has a friend who used to keep about 10 gas cans in his car, so he could fill them up and put it in the boat at a lower price.

** Many people think gun ownership is easy as long as guns are cheap. But if you want to really train yourself in shooting and get rid of the "redneck with shotgun" trope, you may find out the $50 surplus rifle just needs a much more expensive overhaul, and the cheapo FMJ rounds are everything but match-grade, God forbid you [[OhCrap find them out both]] when [[EverythingIsWorseWithBears a furious bear]] charges at you. This Troper thought hunting rifles able to shoot better than 1 MOA are expensive but still acceptable in the $500-$1000 range... before finding out that good quality hunting 8x57IS ammo is not cheap, and .375 H&H ammo may cost $3-$5 ''per round''. Brilliant.

* Horses. This troper is a professional trainer and rider. She's lucky enough that other people pay her to ride their horses. But she has clients who have forked over ''half a million dollars'' for a horse. Yes. More than many people spend on their first home - for an animal. She loves the sport, but thinks the prices for a good quality hunter or jumper are just outrageous. And I hope you're an heiress if you want to compete. Clients regularly drop a couple thousand dollars at a show in entry fees, office fees, stabling, etc. And most of the classes don't offer prize money. Even if you're not at the high end of the sport, a "regular" horse can still be several thousand dollars, boarding and upkeep can be a thousand or more a ''month,'' and there are countless expenses from shoes to shots and emergency medical attention. Crack's cheaper, yes. But so are just about all the other examples on this page. Combined.
** This troper, who is an eventer, would like to point out that any horse could colic, founder, break a leg, or otherwise drop dead at any time. Given that your average horse could cut himself on a beach ball, massive vet bills are just par for the course.
** Agreed. And for some reason, it's the horses that we invest thousands of dollars into upkeep and special treatments for that seem to get injured just by looking at them cross-eyed. Several horses I've worked with receive chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, massage therapy, and much more on a regular basis. They compete at absurdly high levels, can jump a course of 5' fences, and get injured by tripping over their own feet in a paddock. FacePalm.

*** This troper rides the hunter/jumper circuit, which is always subject to fashion whims and generally means changing the color of your jacket, breeches and shirt yearly. Worst is definitely the helmets... Oops! Did you buy a GPA? They're ''so'' 2005...

* Camping. With enough self-restraint, this is actually a very cost-effective hobby. Individual weekend outings can cost as little as $30 or less if you split costs among a small group (3-4 people), and at its most basic level the gear you need isn't very expensive. However, if you want the absolute best-quality gear there is, you can expect to drop quite a chunk of change. Sure, you'll usually be just fine using a small backpack and duffel bag you got from Wal-Mart for a total of maybe $30, but if you want the state-of-the-art ultra-lightweight weatherproof fiberglass-frame camping backpack, then you're looking at something about 10 times that amount. And that's just the backpack. Then you have tents, coolers, firestarting gear, pocketknives, flashlights, and all manner of various tools and gadgets. Just take a look through the camping section of your local sporting goods store and you'll see what I mean. Fortunately, most of this is a one-time expense, and will serve you for countless fun-filled excursions. Unfortunately, camping enthusiasts are just as prone to Gear Acquisition Syndrome as musicians. This troper doesn't like to think about how much his brother spent on flashlights during his time as a Boy Scout...

*** The worst part? just as prone to GAS and SABLE as anything else mentioned. This troper never pays retail, but has a $165 flashlight in a $60 holster on his hip right now, (one that burns through its batteries in 5-10 minutes) and another $95 light in his pocket for when the ''power of the sun'' isn't required. The kicker? on low, it runs for 12 hours nonstop, and is probably marginally brighter than most lights most of you use. [[http://www.lummi.co.uk/Raw_NS.html And it's the size of the average thumb.]]

* Fencing. Assuming you're only planning on "steam" fencing (i.e. without the electric scoring system), then you'll only need breaches, an under-plastron, a jacket, a glove and a basic mask (exact quality/resistance depends on the weapon you use), which will set you back �475. Then of course you need your sword(s), which start from around �35 for a crappy sabre or steam foil. You'll need at least one spare for when it breaks, as well. Once you go electric, you need your lame for your weapon of choice, and they start at �99; plus a bodywire (�20ish) and an electric version of your sword (figure around �5-15 more than your steam blade, although most sabres are built for both electric and steam use). Oh, and you'll need spare lames, bodywires, swords (and for sabre- a special mask and a spare, and a pair of mask clips). And all that is before your registration fees to your local club, to the local administrative body, etc. Not to mention the fact that fencing is one of the sports where the competitor pays to get into tournaments, and the audience gets in free... This troper was lucky enough to start fencing in university with a club sponsored by Allstar, and even with the massive discount they gave us, still ended up forking out well over �2000 over 2 years.
** Historical Swordsmanship: This Troper does historical longsword. The initial costs are comparible to steam fencing, although some of the equipment is different. You need a shinai, some [=PVC=], and pipe insulation to make a longsword simulator, and an extra glove for your off hand, but the prices are similar. The problem comes when you start getting other accessories. You will need a wood or steel waster for practice drills, a buckler for sword and shield, and better gloves when you find that normal fencing gloves do nothing against a shinai. Then when you get more advanced you will want a sharp sword which can run several hundred dollars, plate or chain armor for a couple thousand, and various other weapon simulators.

* Forget figure skating, ''roller derby''. Holy crap. This troper has been playing for a few years now. When you're first starting out in the sport, expect to drop maybe $50 for a full set of low-end pads, $60 for a cheap approved helmet (a bike helmet will not cut it,) maybe $10 for a cheap boil-and-bite mouthguard from a chemist, and about $300 for a pair of vinyl skates--maybe Riedell R3s or Sure Grip GT-50 Rocks. Then you realise, about three training sessions in, that your super-cheap kneepads are absolutely not cutting it, and shell out between $50 and $250 for a pair of TSG Force-IIIs, 187s, Scabs, or Rector Fatboys--plus, if you have an old injury or you tend to fall hard, another $70 or so for knee gaskets. Then you realise the shitty made-in-China wheels your skates came with just aren't cutting it, so you get a new set, which can be up to $200. While you're there, you may as well get some new bearings as well--there goes another $200---and then you need to drop between $30 and $100 on tools to change your wheels and bearings with. Then you start to scrimmage and realise you can't talk with your shitty mouthguard, so you head off to the dentist to get one fitted. This can be up to $150, God help you if you don't have private insurance. And then, by the time you've done all that, your first set of skates has been abused to the point where they are now twisted and warped around your foot and starting to fall apart. So, taking advice from the other girls in your league, you either buy a pre-built set up from a skate shop (ranging from $500 to $1500,) or start looking around to build your own. High-end lightweight aluminium plates and trucks costs ''at a minimum'' $200, if they're used. If you find a pair of Snyder plates with 7mm axles, as opposed to the 8mm axles that are now standard, be prepared to shell out another couple hundred for new bearings or a set of axle sheaths, as well as a new set of skate tools. Proper leather boots cost from about $200 up to $1000, sometimes more. It costs money to get your skates put together, and by this time you'll probably want to upgrade your wheels again; and your first set of wristguards will probably be falling apart, so you upgrade it with a pair of Hired Hands or similar that cost the same as your entire first set of pads did; and your knee pads probably need new caps; and you're going to want a set of outdoor wheels, so you can train outside... and it goes on like this. And if you should happen to have feet that are wider than the standard Riedell or Sure Grip build, you'll probably have to pay to get your skates professionally stretched, or shell out at a minimum $700 for a custom made boot. Some, like the Vanilla Brass Knuckle boots, are a bit wider-cut, and the GT-50 is wider than most, but the former option can be expensive especially if you have to import it, and the latter is vinyl and will inevitably be destroyed in six months or so if you're skating as much as you should be. Plus, your skates will probably need to be serviced at least once every couple of months, which involves expensive creams and citrus cleaners and sometimes specialised equipment. And if you break a truck the day before a tournament it will be a very expensive fix, too.

* Cross-country skiing gets much more expensive the more competitive the race, because there are at least five hundred different kinds of glide and kick wax for different temperatures, different humidity, new snow versus old snow, what kind of snowflakes, and so on. These waxes are frequently $40-80 for 60 grams. Special "pure fluorocarbon" blocks (Jetstream) for extra speed can be $120-200 for 20 grams. This troper's teammates says they can't do crack because they spent all of their money on Jetstream.

** [[BeanJavert This Troper]] feels your pain, and recommends [[http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/ SBG]].

**** Tokusatsu can do a massive Rider Kick in your Wallets, the belt alone costs 100 dollars or so, just for a kid's size belt. And then there is the issue of the outfit, which can rack up to 1000 dollars for the actual outfit and helmet. And maintenance on the suit is a pain in the ass. This troper stuck with Louis from Left4Dead, all for the cheap price of about 200 dollars, with the weapon props being the bulk of the expenses, more for an airsoft

** Even if you're not doing the kind of LARP that requires weapons and armor, it eats into your budget. Over the last 5 years, this troper has spent more money and time buying/making costumes/outfits, makeup/stage makeup, jewelry, accessories, "signature scents," and props for her various characters than she has on things for HERSELF.

** This Troper brought a small hot-hatchback to the performance level of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_308_GTB/GTS Ferrari 308]]. OK, let's be a bit modest and say [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E46#330 BMW 330i]], although numbers are the same. It took about $4500. Car will be still upgradable until the money run out. Next aim is 300 horsepower.

** This troper LOVES being a period-accurate 15th Century Wars of the Roses re-enactor. No having to buy fancy silks and frippery here, all I need is a tunic, kirtle, cap, belt and shoes for a female character, and hose, tunic, shoes, helmet, gloves and sword or polearm for a male character. Costuming sets me back about £100 for the material, my shoes were cheap at £40, leather gardening gloves work perfectly at £10, it's just the helmet and weapons that cost more.

* [[http://www.lush.com LUSH]] soaps and perfumes. Natural, good for your skin if other stuff makes it freak out... you start with one tub of face cleanser and end up with a giant stash of perfume, cleanser, body lotion, soap, limited edition soap, discontinued soap, shower gel, limited edition shower gel, massage bars, Bath Ballistics bath salts, hand cream, foot cream, face masks, solid perfumes, shampoo, solid shampoo, conditioner, solid conditioner, etc, etc, etc. And passing outside a store leads to you going in "just to look" and coming out with �50 worth of goods before you even know it. And yet... you still come back. And back. And back. And wait in line for an hour for the Boxing Day sale. And you compare stashes with other people. And God help anyone who touches your special edition, seasonal or discontinued items without your express permission. This troper's friends refer to that shop as her "crack dealer". Which is entirely true. (... It's also been several years since any of them have needed to buy their own bath products, they just steal hers.)

*** It could work if one is geeky about alcohol. This Troper has become addicted to trying to make new and interesting mixed drinks for every party, and this often means buying some strange exotic mix, lots of fresh fruits and herbs, a good mixer, a good blender, loads of accessories, 50 types of drinking glasses, and hard-to-find ingredients. And that's before you get the most expensive part, the alcohol, which you seem to need 50 different bottles of before your 'bar' is even adequately stocked. Then the time to learn techniques, the time shopping and looking at 10 different liquor stores in my hick town, and the amount of alcohol needed for more than a small gathering...and that's without doing the wine or beer snob route.
*** This troper concurs with the above about booze. I'm a Scotch drinker- Single Malt Scotches are damn expensive. The main market stuff, like Glenfiddich or The Glenlivet are around $60 a bottle. My personal favourite at the moment, Ardbeg 10 Year Old, is $80. Want stuff aged for more than 12 years? Be ready to fork out $200 or more per bottle. I can go through a bottle in ''4 days''.
*** Even beer can get expensive; I can't stand the cheap stuff, so a four-pack for $10 is reasonable. The cheapest sixer I've gotten is $9, and I've been looking at some beer that goes $15-20/bottle. Want to try everything a brewery has made? Good, that'll be $100. And there are so many damn breweries�
**** Specifically, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbrewery microbreweries]] generally make the best beer. Problem is, they have a limited distribution base and might not even import. I can't really tell you, for instance, how to get St. Arnold beer without traveling to Texas. They don't sell from their website and eBay doesn't allow it.

** Then there's aftermarket stuff - photoetch runs from $10 for a basic fret for a 1/25 car with just the fender and trunk emblems up to three figures for superdetailed tank tracks. Resin conversion pieces usually run anywhere from $10-$40, and resin ''kits''-this troper's Holy Grail is the Modelhaus 1973 Chevy station wagon, with a list price of ''$90''.
** (OP here, [[{{Serperoth}} Serperoth]]). And we're talking about scale CAR modelling. Military? Oh you want the "Spitfire Mk. IXb Elementary Data" book? 25$. But that doesn't cover it all. WWI aircraft? HAH. I've never seen more than 2 at a store. And we've not mentioned more specialized supplies. Custom paints? 5$, shipping, and you need a mask (that's for Zero paints). Oh and decals. Tobacco decals are banned, so you have to find an older set, or a private one (not exactly cheap), if you want historical accuracy... Then there's masking tape. Various sandpapers. Polishing compounds. Varnish. Cases to hold them in. It's a moneysink if you're more dedicated.

** And don't even think about getting into saltwater tanks unless you have several thousand to invest. This troper has an LFS with an extensive saltwater selection. The cheapest fish they have is about $25. They also have a small shark that's on sale for $800, not including tax. And that's not including if you want to get into live corals and anemonies....

**** This troper has found a loophole to the selling law in the U.S.. Offer 'classes' in how to make beer, which mostly consist of your friends hanging out at your house watching a baseball game while checking on the mash during commercials. At the end of the day since they helped make it your friends can get free beer after paying for the lesson.
** As for cheese, the ingredients themselves usually work out to less than $5 for a pound of finished cheese. But a cheese press can cost $50 just to MacGyver; a new professional press can cost $400 or more. Some molds and ferments are expensive, too: sure, they come in four-ounce bags and you only need 1/4 teaspoon per batch, but $26 is a lot to spend for bacteria. Cheese caves can be relatively cheap (inexpensive used wine fridges do a fine job for under $100), but you need separate caves for hard cheeses, blue cheeses, Bries and Camemberts, brick cheeses, etc. And then there's the three-gallon thick-bottomed pot, the cheese cloths (and not the stuff you buy at the supermarket either), the butter muslin, the molds, and the sheer amount of repetitive work...why does this troper do it again?

** Of course, there are also the bright lights who waste money while trying to save it. This troper tried to convince a neighbour that kosher salt isn't "overpriced yuppie crap", but he didn't believe her ''until'' he tried making pickles for the first time and they turned out blue, limp, and oversalted and had to be thrown out. Potassium iodide is a harsh mistress.
*** To be fair, you don't need kosher salt if it's the potassium iodide that's the problem -- non-iodized granulated salt is available right next to the iodized stuff on most store shelves for about the same price as iodized salt.
*** This may be a "your mileage may vary" thing. In this troper's home country it's ''against federal law'' to sell iodine-free granulated salt. Sea salt may be referred to as "non-iodized", but that's because sea salt contains enough natural iodine that no additional iodine needs to be added. (You could use coarse pickling salt, of course, but it's significantly more expensive than kosher salt.)

* Learning a foreign language. Beyond high school (assuming they even taught the language you want to learn in the first place), you'll want to attend classes. For the less popular languages, or if you live away from a metropolitan area that has language schools, another option is a one-to-one tutor. If this is a daunting expense, you may opt to self-learn, using audio CDs and books to help along the way. None of these options are especially cheap if you want to learn a language beyond high school level. Of course, this isn't factoring in the cost of additional books you may need to further your studies (dictionaries, grammar guides, verb tables), regular books written in the language to serve as practice reading material (often these must be imported from the countries they're written in if you're learning a language that isn't spoken in your country), or trips to a country that speaks the language you're learning so as to practice among native speakers. This troper is learning Dutch, mostly as a hobby (beyond sporadic tourism in the Netherlands I have no other requirement to speak Dutch), and has come to the realization that after spending a sizeable amount on tuition and books, I can now speak (admittedly with near-native fluency) a language that is only spoken in a few countries, none of which I am likely to reside permanently and all with very high levels of English language fluency.
* Bawls soda. A geek delicacy, many have claimed that this beverage is [=THE=] staple consumable of [=LAN=] parties. So, uh, you wanna try this stuff and see if it's any good? Unfortunately, there's probably an 80% chance you don't live anywhere near a store the stuff's sold in, you gotta order online. In bulk. With shipping costs that are half of the full price (Or even higher than full price if you can find a place that sells 6 packs) even if you pick the worst shipping option. Suddenly you probably don't wanna try it, out of fear you'll crave the stuff all the time and have to spend 60 dollars a month just to keep the stuff coming. This troper envies anyone who lives where it's sold regularly.

* One word: computers. Sure, the computer itself is cheap (some are even less than USD$300!) But then you factor in the Virus Protection (although there are good free ones, especially the ones stating with an A), the word processors (Microsoft, I'm talking to you), games if you're interested in them, (For the kids, their learning programs, because you parents DO spend on them!), a better mouse if you don't like the one that came with the computer, a better keyboard if you don't like the original, power cords if the ones that it came with get cut or otherwise damaged, computer repairs, external hard drives, external DVD drives, the CD and DVDs themselves (the blanks). Want more Ram for your computer? Get out your wallet. Want a better harddrive? Wallet. Oh, and don't forget when there is a new OS out there that most people don't have a choice on getting if they get a new computer. You COULD always not upgrade (which saves you hundreds of dollars sometimes), but then every one might look at you weird when you're still using XP and everyone else has windows 7...
** To expand on this, buying a computer for menial everyday tasks isn't a problem or expensive by itself. The problems start when you buy your set at a walmart for cheap... Then you suddenly spend more time at your computer than your tv, it's LCD standard nowadays? why yes, you might even get lucky and make your buy with a 20''+ monitor that's even 1080p ready! Then you find out that there are 30" 2560x1600 monitors with IPS panels instead of the cheap TN ones that cost double or more compared to a typical 22"-24" 1920x1080/1920x1200 panel! Then you find out integrated graphic cards don't really work for HD, so your PC has trouble decoding even old DVD's at that resolution; so you buy a better graphic card for $100... That your motherboard doesn't support, or there aren't any in the low profile size; so it doesn't fit the cabinet at all; or if it does, since most manufacturers don't plan for you to upgrade your home PC, didn't bother to put a big enough supply unit for power... so you go out and get a power supply and another cabinet. and woe to those that even entertain the tought of modding the cabinet; soon you'll start eyeing and contemplating overclocking gear; yes, there is gear for overclocking, namely the refrigerating units for the computer case and processor, tough you can also get some modding for your video card; and that's cheap if you go with just heat dissipators cooled by a fan; you can get good cheap ones, but they won't lower the average temperature that much, at most you can get away with 15� C cooler than what manufacturers ship computers with. You then find out about water cooled computers, and how water cooling can reduce temperatures much better, is more silent and allows for better overclocking. then you find out about nitrogen or gas cooling and you are already through your 6th computer upgrade this trimester, and already looking forward for a crossfire setup, or a Tri-SLi set up (two videocards for rendering, one for physics) and working out the kinks on replicating that cool Batman logo casemod that you are SURE you can get done in under $500. By the end of your second year you might found out you could have bought 3 alienware computers and a couple of Macintosh; but you still have the consolation that your computers were custom made and there are no two like them... except for all the other guys who bought the exact same parts, but you have a cool case that is a bust of Angelina Jolie, so screw them!

** To expand on this, buying a computer for menial everyday tasks isn't a problem or expensive by itself. The problems start when you buy your set at a walmart for cheap... Then you suddenly spend more time at your computer than your tv, it's LCD standard nowadays? why yes, you might even get lucky and make your buy with a 20''+ monitor that's even 1080p ready! Then you find out integrated graphic cards don't really work for HD, so your PC has trouble decoding even old DVD's at that resolution; so you buy a better graphic card for $100... That your motherboard doesn't support, or there aren't any in the low profile size; so it doesn't fit the cabinet at all; or if it does, since most manufacturers don't plan for you to upgrade your home PC, didn't bother to put a big enough supply unit for power... so you go out and get a power supply and another cabinet. and woe to those that even entertain the tought of modding the cabinet; soon you'll start eyeing and contemplating overclocking gear; yes, there is gear for overclocking, namely the refrigerating units for the computer case and processor, tough you can also get some modding for your video card; and that's cheap if you go with just heat dissipators cooled by a fan; you can get good cheap ones, but they won't lower the average temperature that much, at most you can get away with 15� C cooler than what manufacturers ship computers with. You then find out about water cooled computers, and how water cooling can reduce temperatures much better, is more silent and allows for better overclocking. then you find out about nitrogen or gas cooling and you are already through your 6th computer upgrade this trimester, and already looking forward for a crossfire setup, or a Tri-SLi set up (two videocards for rendering, one for physics) and working out the kinks on replicating that cool Batman logo casemod that you are SURE you can get done in under $500. By the end of your second year you might found out you could have bought 3 alienware computers and a couple of Macintosh; but you still have the consolation that your computers were custom made and there are no two like them... except for all the other guys who bought the exact same parts, but you have a cool case that is a bust of angelina jolie so screw them.
*** You can save a bundle by using your TV as your computer screen or vice versa, mind.

*** To have an idea of how expensive the downloadable content is, ''RockBand'' releases DLC ''every week'' for over 150 consecutive weeks with no signs of stopping. As of September 2010 there are over 1000 songs in the Music Store, most of which are $2 each. That's not even counting the Rock Band Network, a service for [[UserGeneratedContent people outside Harmonix]] to author and sell tracks, which adds over 600 songs.

*** To have an idea of how expensive the downloadable content is, ''RockBand'' releases DLC ''every week'' for over 150 consecutive weeks with no signs of stopping. As of September 2010 there are over 1000 songs in the Music Store, most of which are $2 each. That's not even counting the Rock Band Network, a service for [UserGeneratedContent people outside Harmonix] to author and sell tracks, which adds over 600 songs.

*** To have an idea of how expensive the downloadable content is, ''RockBand'' releases DLC ''every week'' for over 100 consecutive weeks with no signs of stopping. As of December 2009 there are over 800 songs in the Music Store, most of which are $2 each. Estimations say that even with the slightly cheaper packs, buying them all will set you back AT LEAST a thousand dollars. For one game.

* ''TradingCardGames''. They're called "Cardboard Crack" for a reason. ''MagicTheGathering'' ("Five-Colored Crack") is the worst offender.

*** Makes sense why anything built for under $10,000 can be passed off as a "Budget built" car.